Pop-up articles are particularly useful in advertising. For example, advertising pieces such as brochures, fliers, and direct mailers are well-established media for advertising goods and services. Pop-up articles are also widely used for educational and entertainment purposes, such as in children's books. An essential attribute of such media is that it must attract and hold a viewing person's attention. Therefore, these printed articles are preferably visually appealing to stimulate a person's interesting.
Pop-up articles including pop-up devices that have clever three-dimensional shapes are particularly effective at capturing attention. Typical pop-up devices are enclosed within a foldable base piece having a front cover and a back cover, such that when the base piece is in a closed position, the pop-up device lies flat between the covers, but when the base piece is moved to an open position, the pop-up device is forced outwardly from the base piece to form one or more three-dimensional shapes. However, often such pop-up devices are complex to manufacture, and are therefore impractical to produce on a large scale, because they require manual assembly and/or multiple steps to produce. Accordingly, it is desirable to create an automated method of manufacturing articles including such pop-up devices.
In particular, it is desirable to manufacture a pop-up article including a pop-up device having a curved or generally semi-cylindrical shape when the base piece is opened, such that the pop-up device can be used to simulate a beverage mug or other similar article. However, the manufacture of such a curved or generally semi-cylindrical pop-up device has heretofore been possible only using manual manufacturing techniques, and thus was impractical on a large scale.
In an example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,051 (Barnes Jr. et al.) discloses a structural graphic piece, such as a greeting card or folded brochure, having a pop-up device that is substantially flat when the graphic piece is closed but has a distinct curvature when the graphic piece is opened. The distinct curvature may include a right circular cylindrical shape. The pop-up device is actuated by a tab that is fed through an aperture or slit in the pop-up device itself, rendering it impossible to manufacture the disclosed graphic piece from a continuous web using an inline printing press. Additionally, the pop-up device is made from a single piece of material and does not disclose, teach, or suggest adjoining an ornamental feature extending outwardly from an edge of the pop-up device to enable the pop-up device to visually simulate a handle of a beverage mug.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,608 (Williams), along with its counterpart, U.S. Reissue Pat. No. RE38,696 (Williams), discloses a booklet-shaped advertising piece having a pop-up comprising an internal substrate and an anchoring strip, the internal substrate forming a generally semi-cylindrical shape when the advertising piece is opened. The pop-up is actuated by moving a tab at one end of the internal substrate while the anchoring strip prevents an opposite end of the internal substrate from moving. As disclosed, the pop-up spans the entire width of the advertising piece such that the top and bottom edges of the anchoring strip are adhered in proximity to the top and bottom edges of a cover portion of the booklet. Further, when the advertising piece is closed, the tab overlaps a portion of the internal substrate near the fold between the front and back covers of the booklet inhibiting complete closing of the booklet. Additionally, the internal substrate is made from a single piece of material and does not disclose, teach, or suggest adjoining an ornamental feature extending outwardly from an edge of the pop-up device to enable the pop-up to visually simulate a handle of a beverage mug.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a pop-up article including a curved or generally semi-cylindrical pop-up device that can be manufactured from one or more continuous webs using an inline printing press. Further, it is desirable to provide a pop-up article including a curved or generally semi-cylindrical pop-up device that can include an ornamental feature to enable the pop-up device to simulate a handle of a beverage mug. Still further, it is desirable to provide a pop-up article including a curved or generally semi-cylindrical pop-up device that can span less than the full width of the pop-up article, and that enables the pop-up article to move between a fully closed position and a fully open position. Yet further, it is desirable to provide an automated method of manufacturing such a pop-up article from one or more continuous webs of material being processed by an inline printing press line.